Curious Coffins and Riveting Rituals: Death Practices Around the World

by YY Liak

Discover the world’s most fascinating death and funeral traditions in this illustrated modern-day memento mori.

Embark on a whirlwind tour of burial, preservation, and memorial practices and landmarks from across the globe and throughout history, ranging from the customs of our ancestors to contemporary practices. In these vibrantly illustrated pages, you can explore how humans from time immemorial have honored and remembered the dead,


Mummification in ancient Egypt


Post-mortem photography in Victorian England


Open-pyre cremations in India


Ghana’s fantasy coffins


The Japanese ritual of kotsuage (“the gathering of the bones”)


And much more




Author-illustrator YY Liak tackles the thorny theme of death with a deep compassion for the universal experiences of loss and grief and an intrepid interest in the unique mortuary practices that have arisen across continents, cultures, and millennia. Her colorful, modern illustrations bring to life a whole spectrum of human beliefs about death and dying.

EXISTENTIAL AND ENDLESSLY Whether you’re casually curious about what happens to our bodies after we die or intimately experienced with death and its attendant customs, appreciating the rituals of others can help you develop and deepen your own.



MARVELOUSLY MACABRE, TREMENDOUSLY Dynamic, full-color artwork accompanies informative and intriguing text, rendering everything in energetic detail—from a step-by-step breakdown of the embalming process to detailed diagrams of ancestral altars around the world.



A GIFT FOR CURIOUS This intriguing volume makes an excellent present for sociology lovers and morbidly curious readers. It’s a perfect fit for anyone who enjoys an accessible, illustrated take on history and anthropology and can also be shared with younger readers to kickstart important discussions about death and dying.

Perfect


Science buffs and history lovers


Adults and teens interested in death and funeral traditions


Anyone curious about different cultures' beliefs about death and mortality


Readers seeking resources that demystify and destigmatize death and dying


Fans of popular science and sociology authors like Caitlin Doughty, Mary Roach, and Sue Black

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Social Science

192 pages, Hardcover

Published September 30, 2025

Reviews

[Richard Derus · Rating 5 out of 5]

Real Rating: 4.75* of five

The Publisher Says: Discover the world’s most fascinating death and funeral traditions in this illustrated modern-day memento mori.

Embark on a whirlwind tour of burial, preservation, and memorial practices and landmarks from across the globe and throughout history, ranging from the customs of our ancestors to contemporary practices. In these vibrantly illustrated pages, you can explore how humans from time immemorial have honored and remembered the dead:

Mummification in ancient Egypt
Post-mortem photography in Victorian England
Open-pyre cremations in India
Ghana’s fantasy coffins
The Japanese ritual of kotsuage (“the gathering of the bones”)
And much more.
Author-illustrator YY Liak tackles the thorny theme of death with a deep compassion for the universal experiences of loss and grief and an intrepid interest in the unique mortuary practices that have arisen across continents, cultures, and millennia. Her colorful, modern illustrations bring to life a whole spectrum of human beliefs about death and dying.

→EXISTENTIAL AND ENDLESSLY ENTERTAINING: Whether you’re casually curious about what happens to our bodies after we die or intimately experienced with death and its attendant customs, appreciating the rituals of others can help you develop and deepen your own.
→MARVELOUSLY MACABRE, TREMENDOUSLY THOUGHTFUL: Dynamic, full-color artwork accompanies informative and intriguing text, rendering everything in energetic detail—from a step-by-step breakdown of the embalming process to detailed diagrams of ancestral altars around the world.
→ GIFT FOR CURIOUS MINDS: This intriguing volume makes an excellent present for sociology lovers and morbidly curious readers.
It’s a perfect fit for anyone who enjoys an accessible, illustrated take on history and anthropology and can also be shared with younger readers to kickstart important discussions about death and dying.

Perfect for:

Science buffs and history lovers
Adults and teens interested in death and funeral traditions
Anyone curious about different cultures' beliefs about death and mortality
Readers seeking resources that demystify and destigmatize death and dying
Fans of popular science and sociology authors like Caitlin Doughty, Mary Roach, and Sue Black
I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA EDELWEISS+. THANK YOU.

My Review: Singaporean author/illustrator Liak presents the wonderful...in its older sense of "extraordinary, marvelous"...world of death and its rituals.

what we'll be reading about

It's a project she is very suited for, as Chinese cultures are very invested with their dead as vital forces in the world of the living. It has the effect of making the people in those cultures much less squeamish and avoidant of the entire idea of death. It's an instructive contrast to Western, particularly industrialized, societies, most especially the US iteration of that strand. Most people I know have never been in the same room as a dead body, still less interacted with it to prepare it for its farewell rituals.




the introductory bits are all in this style...information with a heavy graphic component

There is a great deal to be said for a commonsensical attitude towards death. I'm a materialist. I don't think there's anything after death that resembles the cultural stories we're told about it, though what happens when we die is not yet known to me...there seems to be a long, long braid of story that SOMEthing continues after death. I'm not dead (I don't think) so I can only say that I think being open to my ignorance is the best stance I can come up with. Trouble is others are convinced they DO know what happens after death and that vision is not evidence-supported or experiential.

some of Death's many cultural manifestations

If that were so, why would cultures around the world have so many different certainties, most mutually exclusive, and each so sure theirs was the uniquely correct one?




some of the death-ritual coping mechanisms we've created

We need, as humans, some framework to deal with our intense grief and complicated emotional entanglements with the other humans in our lives. We create these frameworks to manage the devastating reality of absence, the void where a loved one once was. It's terribly painful and rituals ease our pain.


religion-specific death structures meant to offer moral guidance

Death being a very frightening and utterly permanent transition, it makes perfect emotional sense we have religious professionals using it to reinforce their vision of the proper social order. It takes more or less coercive forms, and offers either comfort or guidance...think of ancient Egypt's Books of the Dead...or threats and warnings, like Dante's Inferno.

This lovely book does a fine, non-partisan job of untangling many threads of the fear of death humans harbor. Author and Artist Liak made this lovely object full of fascinating information to give the curious some fun, the intellectual some context they might not have had before, and the collector of beautiful objects a new treasure.

I enjoyed it very much. I was aware of being hustled past some thorny issues but this is neither religious tract nor scholarly article. It was a quarter-star off entirely for being noticeable, not because it wasn't addressed.

[Megan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Man, what a cool book. I learned some really cool things about death and rituals that so many cultures use. Japan having corpse hotels is not something I expected to learn but here we are!

I thought it was really neat to see in this ARC where there was notes from the publisher for the author but also, I wish it was the mostly finished book as it didn't have the full color illustrations. I had to look them up in a sample online and they are gorgeous. I'm definitely wanting to check this book out at the library just so I can see the illustrations finished.

[Beverly]

A fascinating overview of the worldwide history of death and how we remember those who have passed. Thought-provoking, informative, and well illustrated.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very interesting read on death practices around the world. Makes a great coffee table book for the morbidly curious.

[Bekah Hubstenberger · Rating 2 out of 5]

Entry guide to death practices throughout time and place. Broken into four sections with sub entries. I find death practices interesting and this was an easy an accessible read in that way similar to Cult Following by JW Ocker that I read earlier this year.
However, citations from media sources like the BBC or Business Insider did not inspire a lot of confidence in all of claims. Both death practices and cults as are by nature sensationalist and the function of listicles like “20 Superstitions around the World” is to entertain. Both of these things call the reliability of the information in to question.

Of most benefit here, again like Cult Following, is as a jumping off point for a more focused and rigorous study.

[Megan Beech · Rating 5 out of 5]

When it comes to the topic of death and dying, most people avoid the topic with a 10 foot pole or longer. Nobody wants to die and the thought of our own mortality scares just about everyone when asked about it. Then there are others out there, like me, who find death and the treatment of how the deceased are cared for to be fascinating, even to the point where I almost became a funeral director. Key work being....almost.

I'm a lover and a reader of everything history related and when it comes to learning about death rites and the treatment of burials throughout the world, I'm ready to go on a literary adventure and be nose deep in the content so I can better myself and understand why as humans we do what we to protect and honor our deceased. I found this read to be incredibly fascinating and amazing and I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn something new that you probably wouldn't have learned before. I have a renewed respect for the way people are cared for after death but only if done respectfully and not in negligence. I must emphasize that enough! There are so many true crime cases of desecration of corpses and the mishandling of decedents out there, it's horrifying. I would think that if those people who do perform heinous acts on the deceased would want that to happen to them. 9 times out of 10, they would probably say 'no' so why they do it is another book in itself so I digress.

Now that I'm off my soap box, I would like to thank the author for giving us this book as a tool of knowledge and have a deeper appreciation for our death care workers. They do the job that most people are too afraid to do. I definitely need a physical copy of this book to add to my library for future readings.

I would love to thank the author, publisher and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this ARC book in exchange for an honest review.

[Elisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

The subtitle says it all, this is a book about death. How we’ve viewed it, how we’ve disposed of our bodies and how we’ve grieved. From Neanderthal burials to the current clinical death in hospices, the author explores human funerary practices through time and space. The text is short and informative, surrounded by cute illustrations. Photographs would have been great, but the drawings are creative (and I just googled what I really wanted to see). Having read Caitlin Doughty and Mary Roach and being possibly too interested in death (it’s going to happen, might as well learn about it), this short volume included information that was new to me. The spiritual and philosophical aspects also made a difference. Some of the content was a bit political, but it wasn’t preachy. This is a good book to read whether you feel prepared, or you’re avoiding it.
I chose to read this book and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thank you, NetGalley/Chronicle Books.

[Colleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Arc received on NetGalley

Overall, I think this was a nice intro book to different death practices around the world. The illustrations make it an accessible introduction. The illustrations definitely helped when referencing burial practices I was not familiar with and learning about the process of cremation. The book was broken into several parts and looked at different parts of death, such as ghosts and spirits. I found the structure of the book disjointed at times. I wish there was more of a flow when comparing death practices between. I wished sections had gone more in-depth. Sometimes they appeared more as fun facts.

[Angela · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an excellent around the globe look at death traditions and customs! From the farthest reaches of history to new and interesting methods, we're given a look at how humanity has dealt with the death of loved ones over time. There are some fascinating details presented and the drawings and illustrations lend a sense of liveliness to what is generally perceived as a grim topic. "Curious Coffins and Riveting Rituals" is perfect for someone new to learning about what history has done with the dead. It's also a nice addition to the subject material already available, a bit of a lighthearted perspective.

[Elaine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you too NetGalley for Curious Coffins and Riveting Rituals.

I was riveted by this book!

And I'm also morbidly curious which is why I requested it.

There were some facts I knew but many I did not know.

This was so interesting and well researched, all the info is laid out in an easy going tone and style.

I enjoyed the illustrations but wished there were real life photographs of the people and sites the author mentions in the book.

[Kristy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a good look at different death and funeral practices in different cultures around the world. The author did a good job of pulling from cultures from different parts of the world instead of doing a bunch of white cultures and one non-white. The illustrations were fun.

Using black thread in the binding was a nice touch.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

An intriguing (even fun, despite the topic) quick read that is half illustrations. It stood out to me that there are many great ways that cultures incorporate the memories of the dead into yearly practices. This feels like a relationally rich impulse that is lacking in standard American practice, though many individual families choose creative routes to a similar result.

[Ally Muterspaw · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really insightful overview about historic and current practices around death and mourning. I didn't expect this book to get into the politicization of death (i.e. death row, monuments), but thought it tied really well into the rest of the book.

[Ashleigh · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great introduction to various death practices. A lot of cultures from all over the world were well represented. Loved the graphic design of the book as well.

[Mersi · Rating 5 out of 5]

So cool!